Dr. Gregory James Light

Biography

Greg Light is the director of the Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching and a faculty member in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University.

He completed his PhD (in higher Education) at the University of London in the UK, where he was also a faculty member of the Lifelong Learning Group at the Institute of Education. His teaching and research focuses on the theory and practice of learning, teaching and assessment in higher and professional education.

He has published over 50 papers and chapters in national and international peer-reviewed publications and given over 100 invited talks, workshops and conference presentations in North & South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. He is the author, with Susanna Calkins, of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: The Reflective Professional (Sage 2001, 2009) and with Marina Micari, the Making of Scientists: Six Principles for Effective College Teaching (Harvard University Press, 2013).

Streitwieser, B., & Light, G (2011). When undergraduates teach undergraduates: Conceptions of and approaches to teaching in a peer-led team learning intervention in the STEM disciplines--Results of a two year study.International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 22(3): 346–356.

Park, E-J., Swarat, S., Light, G., & Drane, D. (2009). The impact of a teaching intervention for size and scale on conceptual variations.The Proceedings of the Annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching.

Park, E.J., Light, G., & Mason, T. (June, 2008). Identifying threshold concepts in learning nano-science by using concept maps and students' responses to an open-ended interview.The Proceedings of the International Conference for the Learning Sciences.

Light, G., Swarat, S., Park, E-J. & Drane, D. (2008). Student understanding of “surface area to volume ratio” and its relationship to property change in the nano-science engineering context..The Proceedings of the Research in Engineering Education Symposium.

Light, G. (December, 2006). The puzzle of teaching in higher education: Repositioning learning in academic practice.The Proceedings of the International Conference on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education .

Streitwieser, B., Drane, D., Light, G., & Swarat, S.
(October, 2010).
The Science Research Workshop: Integrating research and teaching.
Paper presented at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) Annual Conference.
Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Park, E-J., Swarat, S., Light,G. & Drane, D.
(March, 2010).
Student understanding of scale: from additive to multiplicative reasoning in the construction of scale representation by ordering objects in a number line.
Paper presented at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching Annual Conference.
Philadelphia, PA.

Light, G.
(February, 2010).
How we learn: practical and philosophical aspects of medical education.
Talk given to the Educating the Educators: Department of Anesthesiology 2nd annual Faculty Development Symposium, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University.
Evanston, IL.

Light, G.
(2010).
Framework for effective teaching in higher education: Innovations & challenges.
Talk given in the LASPAU Institute: The University in the 21st Century: From Teaching to Learning, Harvard University, November 8-12, 2010.
Cambridge, MA.

Light, G.
(2010).
How we learn: practical and philosophical aspects of medical education.
Talk given to the Educating the Educators: Department of Anesthesiology 2nd annual Faculty Development Symposium, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. February 27th, 2010
.
Chicago, IL.

Streitwieser, B. & Light, G.
(October, 2009).
Young Scientists Entering the Community of Practitioners: The Science Research Workshop Program.
Paper presented at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) Annual Conference.
Bloomington, IN.

Wang, S., Streitwieser, B. & Light, G.
(October, 2009).
From the Broad to the Specific: Students Reflecting on Education Abroad.
Paper presented at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL), Annual Conference.
Bloomington, IN.

Micari, M., Pazos, P., Streitwieser, B. & Light. G.
(October, 2009).
Small-Group Learning in Undergraduate STEM Disciplines: What is the Impact of Group Style?.
Paper presented at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL).
Bloomington, IN.

Park, E-J., Swarat, S., Light, G. & Drane, D.
(April, 2009).
The impact of a teaching intervention for Size and Scale on conceptual variations.
Presented at the Annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching.
Garden Grove, CA.

Light, G.
(January, 2009).
Advancing learning through training: a framework for sharing learning goals.
A talk given at The Education in Palliative and End-of-life Care Project, Emory University.
Atlanta, GA.

Light, G.
(January, 2009).
Advancing learning through training: a framework for sharing learning goals.
A talk given at The Education in Palliative and End-of-life Care Project, Emory University.
Atlanta, GA.

Light,G., Swarat,S., Park,EJ. & Drane,D.
(January, 2009).
From conception to intervention: Three studies on undergraduate students' understanding of "Size and Scale".
Talk given at the School of Engineering Education, Purdue University.
West Lafayette, IN.

Lee, A., Light, G. & Poole, G
(July, 2007).
The Learning Gap: Differences in faculty's understanding of their own learning compared to their understanding of their students’ learning. Why is it so and what can we do about it?,.

Workshop/paper given at The International Society for Scholarship in Teaching and Learning.

Light, G.
(December, 2006).
The Puzzle of Teaching in Higher Education: Repositioning Learning in Academic Practice.
Keynote address, International Conference on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, National University of Singapore.
.
Singapore, Singapore.

Streitwieser, B. & Light, G
(April, 2006).
When Undergraduates Teach Undergraduates – Conceptions of Teaching in a Peer-Led Team Learning Intervention in the STEM Disciplines: Results of a Two Year Study.
Presentation for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Conference.
.
San Francisco, CA.

Mentoring for Success: Developing Fundamental Skills for Biomedical Research

National Institutes of Health

2007
- 2012

$1.7 million

Funded

PI:

My Role: Co-Investigator

2008

Gateway Science Workshop Program: Study of Impact of Peer Workshops on Students' Experience and Intellectual/Social Development in Gateway Science Courses

Northwestern University

2008
- 2011

$2 million

Funded

PI:

My Role: Principle Investigator

2005

Extended Science Workshop Program

National Science Foundation

2005
- 2010

$500,000.00

Funded

PI:

My Role: Principal Investigator

2004

National Center for Learning and Teaching: Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NCLT)

National Science Foundation

2004
- 2009

$15 million

Funded

PI:

1999

Cost Effective Uses of Knowledge in Teaching

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

1999
- 2002

$135,000

Funded

PI:
Light, Gregory

2001

Evaluation of the effectiveness of IHSRPS Fellowship Program

Institute of Health Services, Research and Policy Studies

2001

$12,500

Funded

PI:

My Role: Co-Investigator

1998

Review of the Course Structure and Teaching Methods in Undergraduate

Wye/Imperial College, University of London

1998

$10,500

Funded

PI:

My Role: Co-Investigator

Research Interests

Student learning in higher and profession education
, faculty development, faculty conceptions and approaches to teaching, faculty conceptions of learning in research and teaching, variation theory.

Teaching/Advising

Courses

MS_HE 464

Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
Current issues of learning and teaching in higher education are explored, enabling students to analyze and critique applicable concepts, policies and practices. How college students learn is examined, along with strategies faculty can employ to maximize learning. Students apply models and theories of learning and teaching to real environments. Also discussed are contemporary issues related to faculty, including tension between teaching and research.

Service/Recognition

Professional Organizations

American Educational Research Association

American Association of Colleges and Universities

American Society for Engineering Education

Association for the Study of Higher Education

European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction

International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

National Association of Research in Science Teaching

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education